Marlies even series with Game 2 win

T.J. Brennan and Zach Hyman each scored twice as the Toronto Marlies evened the North Division Finals with a 5-3 win over the Albany Devils at a sold-out Ricoh Coliseum on Friday night.

With the best-of-seven series tied at one win apiece, the teams head to Albany for Game 3 on Sunday (5 p.m. ET, AHL Live).

Antoine Bibeau (2-0) made 40 saves – including 18 in the third period – and Connor Carrick and Sam Carrick each tallied two assists as the Marlies bounced back from Wednesday’s 2-1 loss in the series opener.

Toronto scored first in Game 2 at the tail end of a power play as Ben Smith banged home the rebound of a Connor Carrick shot for his second goal of the postseason at 11:20 of the first period.

The Devils answered quickly when Dan Kelly’s long shot eluded Bibeau at 12:38, and Albany grabbed a 2-1 lead less than three minutes later as Nick Lappin pounced on a rebound at 15:26.

Toronto killed off 1:26 of an Albany two-man advantage in the second period then capitalized on a power play of its own, as Brennan sent a quick wrister through traffic to make it 2-2 at 10:36.

The Marlies regained the lead at 2:02 of the third period when Hyman got a piece of a point shot by Viktor Loov for his second goal of the playoffs. But the Devils came right back again as Matt Lorito swept a loose puck past Bibeau at 3:52, making it 3-3.

Brennan then got his second goal of the night at 6:43, beating Scott Wedgewood (4-2) on a snap shot from the right point, and Hyman picked up his second goal with 1:45 remaining, stuffing a wraparound home to put the Marlies up 5-3.